


And So This Is Christmas

by violet_storms



Series: sapphic september 2020 [8]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Dancing, F/F, Flirting, Minor Harry Potter/Cedric Diggory - Freeform, Sapphic September, Yule Ball (Harry Potter), cho and cedric are mlm/wlw solidarity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28332204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violet_storms/pseuds/violet_storms
Summary: Cho Chang shares a dance with the Triwizard Champion of her dreams.
Relationships: Cho Chang/Fleur Delacour
Series: sapphic september 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907998
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	And So This Is Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> _outlined in september, written in december, for sapphic september 2020. prompt: "lace."_

The ceiling of the Great Hall was full of stars. The walls were coated in sparkling silver frost. Garlands of mistletoe and ivy hung suspended in the air, and Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory sat across from each other at a tiny table, not talking.

The music was loud, and it thrummed uncomfortably in Cho’s ears. This was dancing music, not sitting-awkwardly-at-a-table music, she thought, and searched in vain for something interesting to say, but found nothing. Cedric, who was resolutely not making eye contact with her, took another sip from his almost-empty drink. When the song playing suddenly came to an end, Cho couldn’t take it anymore.

“Do you want to dance again?” she said, and Cedric finally looked at her.

“Sure, if you want to.”

“Well, only if _you_ want to.”

“I will if you do.”

“Oh, but I want you to want...to.”

“Do you _want_ to dance again?” he asked her. Cho shrugged.

Cedric nodded. “Me, too.”

Silence fell again. Cho twisted her hands together in her lap, no idea what to say or do. Almost against her will, she turned her head and glanced over at the dance floor for what felt like the twentieth time that night—and was surprised to find the person at whom she was looking staring back at her from across the hall. Cho immediately turned back to Cedric, cheeks burning.

“Do you want to dance?” he said. Cho blinked in confusion.

“I thought you said—?”

“No, I mean, do you want to dance with someone else?”

Cho felt herself blush again. “I’m here with you…”

“Only because you were too nice to say no to me,” said Cedric. “Don’t worry, I’m not flattering myself.” He grinned at her.

“I do really like you,” said Cho, feeling the need to explain. “I just don’t...you know... _like_ you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Cedric. “Hey, you should ask her to dance.”

“Hey, you should mind your own business,” Cho responded, but she felt a smile creeping up on her face. “You really wouldn’t mind?”

“Actually, there’s someone else I maybe want to dance with, too,” he said. Cho crossed her arms over her chest and sat back, raising her eyebrows at him.

“I bet I get a dance before you do.”

“Oh, it’s on, Chang,” said Cedric delightedly, reaching across the table and gripping her hand. Cho shook it firmly. “Three, two, one…”

They both jumped up from the table and hurried off in opposite directions. Cho was five steps in before the realization hit her—well, shit, now she actually had to do this. She rocked back on her heels, suddenly uncertain. Then, as the sound of the music reached new heights, she made a split-second decision. _Well, what do you have to lose?_

Fleur was standing by herself, and for a minute Cho was filled with confidence. _Come on, Cho, you can ask a pretty girl to dance,_ she told herself. Then Fleur looked up at her and Cho instantly panicked. _No, no you can’t. Abort mission. Abort!_

But it was too late. “Hello,” said Fleur. Cho wondered if the other girl’s voice sounded that musical to anyone else. “You are Cho Chang, correct?”

“That’s me,” said Cho. Fleur looked at her, as though expecting her to say something more, and Cho thought she probably should, but the reason for her coming over here was completely gone from her head and instead she came out with, “Your dress is gorgeous.”

It was—all pale grey chiffon with witchy lace flowers that made Fleur look like she belonged on a magazine cover, not that she didn’t look like that every other day of the week. Fleur smiled at the compliment. “Thank you,” she said. “It is nothing compared to you.”

“Oh,” said Cho, self-consciously smoothing out the fabric of her own silver gown. “Thank you. I sewed some of it myself.”

“And you did very well, but I meant you were gorgeous, not the dress,” said Fleur, and before Cho could process that, she held out a hand and gestured toward the dance floor, where the song playing was coming to an end. “Would you like to dance?”

Well. Whatever Cho had expected, it certainly wasn’t this, and for a moment, she could only stutter in shock. Luckily, Fleur correctly interpreted this as acceptance and led her out onto the dance floor, where the Weird Sisters had just begun another, slower tune.

As Cho and Fleur swayed in delicate circles, Cho resisted the urge to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. Fleur thought _she_ was pretty? Fleur _wanted_ to dance with her? _Well damn, Chang,_ she thought to herself. _You could’ve saved yourself a lot of pining if you’d just asked her out when she sat at Ravenclaw that first day like you wanted to. Idiot._

“Your name,” said Fleur, bringing Cho back to reality. “Cho.” She pronounced the single syllable with such careful precision Cho wanted to laugh. “I’ve never heard it before.”

“You wouldn’t have. It’s not supposed to be a name,” said Cho. “Well, it is a name, just not a first one. It was my mother’s maiden name. She wanted me to have it, since she changed hers when she married my dad.”

“Oh, I see,” said Fleur. “That is very sweet.”

“I suppose so, but it does make me sound a bit stupid, with two last names and all. I might’ve gone by my middle name, but unfortunately it’s Mabel.”

“Ah,” said Fleur, laughing. “I think you made a good decision.”

“So do I,” said Cho. Suddenly Fleur spun out, away from her, and Cho stood up on her tiptoes to twirl the other girl in a circle. When Fleur stepped back into her arms, they were dancing much closer than they had been before, and Cho thought she could feel her heart rate speed up.

“You came here with Cedric Diggory,” said Fleur, tilting her head to the side.

 _“You_ came here with Roger Davies,” said Cho. Fleur made a dispassionate noise.

“He is not so smart, that one.”

“Not all Ravenclaws can be winners,” said Cho with a grin. “Cedric is smart. He’s just not my type.”

“I think I understand what you mean,” said Fleur, eyes sparkling. She raised her arm up and Cho got the hint, ducking under it to execute a careful twirl. “You dance well,” said Fleur, when they were back together.

“I do?”

“Yes. You have a natural grace.”

“You’re saying I meet the high Beauxbatons standards?” said Cho, who had overheard a little of Fleur’s conversation with Roger during dinner. Fleur smiled.

“It is true that I miss France very much, and there will never be any place in the world as perfect for me as my home there. But I have come to realize that England, and Hogwarts, have certain wonderful things that France does not.”

“And what things, exactly, are those?” Cho inquired. Fleur pulled her close, and Cho felt a thrill travel through her whole body.

“France has no Cho Mabel Chang.”

“Oh, gross,” said Cho. “You ruined it there, with the Mabel.”

“Did I? How tragic,” said Fleur. “You will simply have to give me another dance to make up for it.”

The slow song came to an end, and over Fleur’s shoulder, Cho saw Cedric making his way onto the dance floor, with someone—was that Harry Potter?—close behind. Cedric glanced over and gave her a thumbs up and a wide smile. Cho winked at him, then turned back to Fleur.

“Another dance?” she said. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

And they whirled away, silver and grey and chiffon and lace, into the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> This could have been longer, but I really wanted to publish it on Christmas Day (in my timezone, at least). Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! Fun fact: my mother considered naming me Mabel, and all I can say to that is yikes.


End file.
